Norns
|
The Norns spin the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world. |
This article is about the Norns from Norse mythology. See Norn language for the language once spoken in Scotland, and Norns (Creatures) for the computer game species.The
Norns (
Old Norse:
norn, plural:
nornir) of
Norse mythology are three
dísirs by the names of
Urd (the past),
Verdandi (the being) and
Skuld (what is to come). (
Skuld was also the name of a
Valkyrie.)
 |
This romantic representation of the Norns depicts one of them with wings, contrary to folklore. |
The Norns live beneath the roots of
Yggdrasil, the world tree at the center of the cosmos (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the
Bifrost Bridge), where they weave the
tapestry of
fates. Each person's
life is a string in their
loom, and the length of the string is the length of the person's life.
Thus everything is
preordained in the Norse belief system: even the
gods have their own threads, though the Norns do not let the gods see those. This clear subjection of the gods to a power outside their control and the implication that they, too, will have an End are major themes of the literature surrounding
Norse mythology.
The three weaving crones who control
destiny exist at a deep mythic level, though probably not as old as the art of
weaving itself. The counterparts of the Norns among the Greeks were the
Moirae, known to the Romans as the
Parcae.
Depictions of Norns appear infrequently in modern popular culture, often largely unrelated to their historical inspiration. See main article for more information.
